Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Stairs dealt; Shortstop next?

NEW YORK — The Matt Stairs trade was officially announced today, but there’s still no word on who is coming to the Jays in return. All that’s being revealed at this point is that Stairs did indeed go to the Phillies for a player to be named.

Now, the waiting begins for Toronto’s three shortstops. Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi is still talking to the Angels about a deal that could send one of David Eckstein, John McDonald or Marco Scutaro to L.A.

Here today, Eckstein is starting at short for the first time since July 26. Could the Jays be showcasing him? More like Toronto is trying anything to squeeze a little more offense from their lifeless bats (three runs in the past three games).

“It gives David a chance to play,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “It just mixes our lineup a little bit. We’re not scoring any runs, so I thought I’d put a few different faces out there today.”

That included Jose Bautista (riding an 0-for-26 slump), starting at third base instead of Scott Rolen. Gaston said Rolen was fine, but the skipper just wanted to give him a rest since the Jays are playing a day game after a night game.

or maybe it means that Scoot hasn’t had a day off in quite a while. He’s been moving to second against lefties as Mighty Joe doesn’t play. He’s played third while Scott was on the DL.

I think that if the Angels make the right offer any of the three are gone. I think the Jays would want more for Scoot or J Mac. But Eckstein has a bigger contract for less value (IMO) so the Angels may be less interested.

guys-I think you might find this information which was posted on the Angles web site interesting.

“The pieces for the Angels right now are rookies Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez.”

I can’t believe the Angels would consider trading either one of these guys, but apparently they would. I guess they’re going for the gusto this year.
I’d love us to pick up both of these kids. They would certainly want more than just one of our infielders, but would be worth it, particulary Wood.
Check them both out at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&cid=561

Tough deal for Snider they load them up in the house that Ruth built.Snider must have been shakin in his boots.
He can hold his head high he went from A ball to AA ball then AAA ball and then to the Majors in one year and he is only 20 years old.

Great win. Man was B.J. Ryan ever bailed out on that double play (two inches to the right and that would have been a double). Not a good outing for him, we could have easily blown that.

I agree, League was absolutely disgusting out there. I’ve never seen him pitch like that. He had Giambi flailing at the ball.

I don’t see why the Angels would give up Brandon Wood, but crazier things have happend. He sure has no room to get any MLB at-bats with that lineup, and he hasn’t hit over .160 in 2 years of limited time in the majors. A huge prospect though, that would get me very excited. He would be a huge score, I’m sure we’d have to give up more than Eckstein….

welikeroy
I think League pitched close to that in 2006, but it appears Cito has done his magic and given hm a new level of confidence. He was unhittable.
I was surprised to see that on LA’s web site. It could be they are giving up on Wood or just want to win this year. LA only have one lefty in the pen, so they might consider one of Scutaro, Eckstein or Macdonald and either Downs or Carleson for Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez.

The Angels and the Blue Jays were closing in on a deal Friday that would have returned popular shortstop David Eckstein to Anaheim. But talks stalled, apparently when another club also expressed serious interest in the 2006 World Series most valuable player. The Rays and Red Sox may be among the teams interested in Eckstein. The Dodgers, who also need depth in the infield, are among the teams monitoring the situation, although a deal is considered a longshot.

Not only was League’s stuff insanely nasty, he was also locating his pitches for once. In the past, he has had trouble with walks and hitting the corners (leaving the ball over plate too much).

Young talent from all those teams seem promising. The Red Sox have a heap of talent still, I like Chris Carter, a young first baseman with a power bat really suceeding in Pawtucket and ready for the majors. Lars Anderson is 1B/OF prospect, but he might take a year or two. Michael Bowden and Nick Hagadone are two highly touted pitching prospects. Bowden just got called up.
Dallas McPherson has hit 42 homeruns in AAA this year, recovering from an injury last season and playing for the Marlins now, we are not in talks with the Marlins but interesting none the less.

I think the Diamondbacks still have Tim Raines Jr. don’t they? Just kidding, he can hit but has become a minor league journeyman by now. Oh just check it, he is hitting .311 with 15 homers and 28 stolen bases in AAA Tucson, downside is he is 29 years old. You never know, might be a late bloomer. Jaime D’Antona looks like a good one, he was recently called up, hitting .366 in AAA for Tuscon, (I tried to get him in my fantasy keeper pool was unsucessful). Max Sherzer RHP gets a lot of hype, he is 0-2 so far with Arizona. Jarrod Parker is another pitcher they have but he is very young and will take a while. Josh Whitesell 1B, is a guy hitting well in Tucson .329 26 homers, he was a 2003 pick by the Expos. He might not be that different than Dopriak, except he is succeeding in AAA.

I don’t there are a lot of prospects out there, it is hard to find a sure thing. I hope the Jays get someone though.

It looks like the D-Backs will be the one I wonder who we will get.Tim Rains jr would not be a loss as a 4th outfeilder if it was not for Snider unless they keep Snider in AAA next year.But I would like to see D’Antona come this way.We will all know by tonight thats for sure.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.